Dribblings and ramblings of a semi-professional railway worker and gunzel type.

WANDERINGS OF A GUNZEL......AIYAHHHHHHHHHH

Yes, the odd rambling from a semi-dysfunctional railway type, both as a professionial-at times debatable...and as a hobby..No perversions mind, only good honest blokey hornbags allowed! After years of travelling in many parts of Asia, any sensible fellow knows, and understands, that they are world's best women! And not to mention some trains of course! These articles come about in a highly sporadic fashion, due to some unpleasent aspersions being cast between the railway hobby, and offences against the underaged.Not to mention a scent of doom laden prophecy, that the world as we know it shall shortly endure! Surely mankind can no longer be allowed to continue it's excesses of greed and consumption on the face of the planet, and nature shall judge us by our actions. The law of cause and effect is being sown with devestating consequences!Ha!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Read below, of the imminent demise of one of Aussie's icons. I will try to "source" a "quintessential" picture of a koala, so you can remember how they were in a "best practice" natural enviroment...Read on...and tremble lah!The koala is under threat from climate change, according to new research which shows rising carbon dioxide levels are killing nutrients in the plants they eat.Lab tests have revealed that global warming is stripping the goodness from eucalypt leaves, and theUniversity of Sydney researchers behind the study saythe koalas that rely on them don't have enough time to adapt to the change."What currently may be good koala habitat may well become, over a period of not so many years at the rate that carbon dioxide concentrations are rising, very marginal habitat," lead researcher Professor Ian Humesaid."I'm sure we'll see koalas disappearing from their current range even though we don't see any change in tree species or structure of the forests."Prof Hume will present new research at a major science conference in Canberra showing that increases in CO2 decrease levels of "good" nutrients and increase toxic nutrients in eucalypt leaves.This change will mean eucalypt species with high protein content will become unbeneficial to the koalas, the so-called "anti-nutrients" such as tannins bind the protein making it unusable."If there is a significant rise in CO2 concentrationin the atmosphere, which we're already seeing, that's going to push the ratio of nutrients to anti-nutrients even lower, by increasing the concentration of these carbon-based anti-nutrients," he said.When asked how long it would take for koalas to be affected, he said: "I would've thought a few years ago when we first did these experiments that you might sees omething in a hundred years.""But at the rate at which things are going, I suspect that we might see changes within our lifetimes," ProfHume said.He will tell the Academy of Sciences conference that koalas had "nowhere near enough time" to adapt to the changes in nutrient content.They may be forced to travel in search of more nutrient-rich species, increasing their risk of being hit by vehicles or eaten by predators, the researchers warned.The team believes the eucalypt will also be affectedby rising temperatures, with some so sensitive to heat that even a one-degree shift will affect their growth.The marsupials could be left with less temperature-sensitive species that are not suitablefor koala feed.The group studied the four marsupials that eat eucalypt foliage - koalas, the greater glider, common ringtail possum, and common brushtail possum - and found koalas most sensitive